Adjustable foot-rest for car-seats



F. S. PRATT. Adjustable Foot-Rests for Gar-Seats.

No. 226,194 Patented April 6, 1880.

METERS. FNOTO L1THOGRAPHEH. WASHINGTON, I)v C.

FREDERIO S. PRATT, OF VORUESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

ADJUSTABLE FOOT-REST FOR CAR-SEATS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 226,194, dated April 6, 1880. Application filed March 10, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERIO S. PRATT, of the city and county of WVorcester and Gom monwealth of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Adjustable Foot-Rests for Oar-Seats; and I do hereby declare that the fol-lowing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 represents a top or plan view of the frame of a car-seat with a set of my improved adjustable foot-rests applied thereto, one-half of which is shown opened out and ready for use, as will be hereinafter more fully described. Fig. 2 represents a central vertical section through the car-seat frame and foot-rests shown in Fig. 1, taken on line A B, Fig. 1, looking in the direction indicated by arrow 1 of the same figure; and Fig. 3 represents a section the same as shown in Fig. with the exception that the end of the car-seat is left off to show the other parts more clearly, while both the foot-rests are represented folded up.

The object of my invention is to provide a convenient and easily-adjustable foot-rest for short persons, particularly ladies and children, who are not able to reach and rest their feet upon the ordinary foot-bar with which carseats are usually provided, thus enabling such persons, especially in taking longjourneys, to ride with much greater ease, and therefore causing very much less fatigue than when riding or journeying in cars of common or ordinary construction.

To enable those skilled in the art to which my invention belongs to make and use the same, I will proceed to describe it more in detail.

In the drawings, 0 0 represent the ends of an ordinary car-set; D I), the supportingpieces for the upholstered portion of the seat, and E E the foot-bars of the same.

M y invention consists of two foot-rests, F F, so constructed and combined together that they can be folded up under the car-seat, as represented in Fig. 3, or they may be unfolded, so that they may be used alternately,

as occasion may require, and as hereinafter described.

To the ends of foot-rests F F are secured arms G G, their inner ends being jointed or hinged together at the points a and provided with curved portions G so as to fit over the foot-bars E E when the rests are unfolded for use, as indicated on the righthand side of Fig. 2 of the drawings.

To the ends of the foot-rests F F are also secured, outside of jointed arms G G, swinging foot-rest legs H H, which in turn are secured to the ends of supporting rods or bars I I, which support the foot-rest, in combination with the legs H H, as hereinafter more fully described.

The whole device, when folded up under the car seat, rests upon supporting rods J J, which are secured at their ends to cross-pieces D D and foot-bars E E, and bent into the proper form for holding as well as supporting said device when adjusted into its several positions, as fully indicated in the drawings.

As will be observed by Figs. 2 and 3, sup.- porting-rods J J are bent so as to come below the bottom of foot-bars E E. Thus, when the device is folded up under the car-seat, as represented by Fig.3, it is entirely out of the way, an d does not in the least interfere with the use of the foot-bars E E commonly used.

When the device is in its place under the carseat, as represented by Fig.3, a person desiring to use one ofthe foot-rests has but simply to put his or her foot under the footbar of the seat and push the foot-rest up, when it passes forward over the foot-bar of itself and slides forward and down until arrested by curved portions Gr coming in contact with the cross-bar E or E, as the case may be. The person proposing to use the rest has only to take hold of one of the supporting-rods, I or I, draw it forward, and turn it under until it strikes the under side of the foot-rest, as indicated in Fig. 2 of the drawings, when the latter is then in position to be used, and does not easily fall down, owing to the weight upon the same coming not only upon the pivots of legs H or H, but also upon its rod I or I, thereby effectually preventing said legs from being swung under by the feet striking against them.

When one of the foot-rests-F,for instanceis being used, the other, F, lies fiat upon its supporting-rods J, with its supporting-legs H and rod I folded over out of the way, as represented by Fig. 2 of the drawings, and the whole device is kept from sliding forward in the direction of the rest being used by the side b of said rest F bearing against the sides 0 of its holding and supporting rods J.

The foot-rest may be easily returned to its folded position under the car-seat, as indicated by Fig. 3 of the drawings,bya slight push with the hand or foot sufficient to raise the rest over the top of the cross-bar.

Then, again, it will be observed that by simply disconnecting the jointed ends of arms G G the foot-rest may be quickly and easily removed from the seat-frame for repairs when necessary.

In practice, if preferred, the foot-rest may be made in sections, so that when two persons are occupying a single seat one can have a foot rest down and in use while the other is folded up and the cross-bar used as a foot-rest.

From theforegoing description it will be seen that by my invention a very convenient and inexpensive foot-rest is provided, and one which has long been needed for the reasons heretofore explained.

This invention, while it suppliesa convenient foot-rest for short persons, does not interfere in the least with the use of the ordinary crossbars for a foot-rest when desired. If left on the floor when the car is vacated it is readily pushed back into itsplaee under the car-seat,

as before explained, in which last position it offers no obstruction to the cleansing of the floor underneath in the usual manner. Being simply constructed, it is strong and durable, and therefore not liable to get out of order, and, having few joints, will cause but little or no annoyance to the passengers by rattling, while at the same time it can be quickly and conveniently applied to any car-seat of ordinary construction.

Another feature of my invention is that it does not detract from the general appearance of the canseat upon which it is applied.

Having described my improvements in ad justa-ble foot-rests for car-seats, what I claim therein as new and of my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, with a car-seat frame, 0 G and D D, constructed substantially as described, of foot-rests F F, arms G G, and hinged supporting-feet H H, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination, with the car-seat frame 0 O and D D, of supporting-rods J J, arms G G, and foot-bars E E, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The combination, with the car-seat frame 0 G and D D, foot-rests F F, and hinged supporting-feet H H, of supporting-rods J J and I I, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

FRED. S. PRATT.

\Vitnesses Tnos. H. DODGE, EDWIN E. MOORE. 

